Improvement in buckles



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN NV. HINMAN, OF OMRO, WISCONSIN.

l IMPROVEMENT IN BUCKLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,840, dated December3, 1861.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN W. HINMAN, of Omro, in the county of Winnebagoand State of Wisconsin, have invented a certain Improvement in Buckles,the construction and operation of which I have described in thefollowing specification and illustrated in its accompanying drawingswith sufcient clearness to enable competent and skillful workmen in thearts to which it pertains or is Y most nearly allied to make and use my.in-

vention.

My said invention consists in the combination, in the manner hereinafterdescribed, of a sliding tongue with a bar upon which it is allowed toslide and by which it is kept in position and prevented from turning,and two cross-bars, between which the strap to be held passes, by whichcross-bars the tongue is supported at both ends, as hereinafter morefully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of the buckle as itwould appear when laid down upon a table, the side strap of a harness,and a portion of a tug secured in the buckle being also shown with it.Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same parts. Fig..3 is aplan of the buckle without the attachments. Fig. 4 is an under sideView.

The main body of the buckle is cast of mallea-ble iron or brass or othersuitable material.

l is the bar, to which the strap which is permanently attached, issecured.

2 2 are the sides.

3 is the outer end piece at the end farthest from the bar l. At thepoint where this portion of the buckle is joined to the sides anotherbar et divides from it and the side pieces and crosses in a similar formfrom one vside piece to the other. This is more clearly shown in Fig. 4.These bars 3 and 4 are sufliciently far apart to allow the strap 5,which the buckle is designed to secure, to pass freely between them, asindicated in Fig. 2.

6 is the tongue of the buckle. It is made with an eye or hole at one endto iit freely upon the bar 7, upon which it is permitted to slide. Thisbar 7 is not cylindrical, but is made of an oval or other form whichwill prevent the tongue from turning upon it, the hole in the tonguebeing made to correspond. One end of this bar 7 is joined to the bar 4,by which it is supported, and the other end is supported by the bar 8,which is joined at its ends to the sides 2 2, it being carried downsufficiently low to avoid the strap 5.

The bar 1, sides 2 2, bars 3, 4, 7, and 8, are together a singlecasting. The eye of the tongue, if it is forged, may be bent around thebar 7, or if it isa closed eye or the tongue is cast instead of beingforged one part first made mustbe set into the sand and the other castinto or upon it in a manner Well known to molders of articles of likenature. It will be observed by an inspection of the drawings that theends of the tongue are both sup-- ported at the same time-one by the bar3 and the other by thebar ll-and that only the thickness of the strapand a trifle more intervenes between the points of support. The power ofresistance of the tongue to the strain thrown upon it by draft upon thestrap is therefore very great in proportion to the amount of metalemployed. This advantage is realized without the sacriice of any of theessential qualities of a good buckle. The tongue passes directlythroughthestrap. Consequently there ls no oblique strain, and byslacking the strap and drawing it back a short distance, so as to bringthe tongue back to that end of the bar 7 which is nearest the Havingthus fully described my said invenl tion, what I claim is- A buckleconstructed, combined, and operating substantially as described.

JOHN W. HINMAN.

Witnesses:

.IAS T. RUSSELL, E. R. C oL'roN.

